Celebrities Who Almost Became Professional Athletes
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Amal Clooney and George Clooney
Before Clooney's acting career he played baseball at a high level. He was so good that he narrowly missed out on the opportunity of playing for the Cincinnati Reds.
2 / 15
Dean Cain
Cain played "Superman" in Lois and Clark. Nevertheless, before acting he signed with the Buffalo Bills after graduating in 1988. A knee injury suffered during training camp ended his football career.
3 / 15
Burt Reynolds
Reynolds is known as one of the most famous American actors of all time. However, before acting Reynolds was an all-star high school fullback and earned a football scholarship to Florida State University. Reynolds was involved in a car accident mid-season, ending his dream of becoming a pro football player.
4 / 15
Gerald Ford
Ford, before becoming President, played football to a high level, even getting a scholarship to the University of Michigan. Eventually he gave up football to focus on law school.
5 / 15
Ed O'Neill
O'Neill was made famous through his role on Modern Family and Married... with Children. However, before acting he played football and signed onto the Pittsburgh Steelers but was later cut from the team.
6 / 15
Lou Ferrigno
The actor Lou Ferrigno. gained fame in the late 1970's for his role as the "Hulk" in the popular TV show The Incredible Hulk. He was a very good footballer player before his acting career. However, he was released because he did not tackle opposing players enough.
7 / 15
Kurt Russell
Russell who has starred in such films as The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China and Miracle was a star baseball player and was signed by the Los Angeles Angels in 1971. However in 1973, he tore his rotator cuff, ending his baseball career.
8 / 15
Lee Majors
Majors is best known for his role in The Six Million Dollar Man TV series. Majors attended Indiana University on a football scholarship, but a back injury meant he was not able to play at Indiana.
9 / 15
Jon Hamm
Jon Hamm had his big breakthrough with the hit series Mad Men. This star almost became a professional football player due to the fact that he was one of the best football players during his time at John Burroughs School, a private school in Ladue, Missouri.
10 / 15
Jason Momoa
Jason Momoa was extremely athletic in his younger days already. Momoa used to play hockey professionally for a while before he started acting. His body shows that he is still very much into sports...
